The pardon also included Shura Council protesters Hany al-Gamal and Peter Youssef, and Alexandrian activist Omar Hazek, who was sentenced alongside Mahienour El-Massry, Youssef Shaaban, and Loay al-Ahwagy who recently had their appeal rejected.
State-run news agency MENA said that the pardoned activists, among whom there were sixteen women, would be released Wednesday. The presidency is expected to pardon 358 others on Thursday.
Amnesty International Egypt welcomed the decision via its Facebook page. The rights group said it "hoped that the decision stems from the authorities' conviction of the innocence of those imprisoned and is not related to the Egyptian president's upcoming visit to [the United States]." The pardons come ahead of Sisi's visit to New York Thursday to attend the United Nations 70th General Assembly.
The Canadian government also said it was pleased with Fahmy's pardon, adding that it looks forward to his return to Canada. A day before the pardons were announced, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said his government will continue to press Egypt to pardon Australian journalist Peter Greste, and Fahmy and Mohamed. It is unclear if Greste was among those pardoned Wednesday.
[Ahram Online, DNE, Reuters, AP, Aswat Masriya, 9/23/2015]
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